Timothy J. Dyches

 

(black text is the original talk; all yellow highlights are things I am commenting on;All blue text are my thoughts and are my opinions only and do not represent the official position of the speaker or the church.) 

Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?

By Elder Timothy J. Dyches
Of the Seventy

As we repent and become converted two different things to the Lord, we become whole, "not broken, damaged, or impaired" and our guilt is swept away.

During a time of joyful feasting at Jerusalem, the Savior left the multitudes to seek out those in greatest need. Here in the first sentence of his talk, we have an example of the character of Christ. At a time when one would want to turn inward (food, family, celebration, rest from work) the Savior leaves all of that to go and look for those in greater need. Did those he leave question or judge him for leaving? Did they feel like he was choosing someone else over them? Did they feel judged by him for staying and celebrating? Yes...no...maybe...it doesn't really matter what the answers are. None of that changed what he felt inspired to do at that given moment. His thoughts turned to those who had no reason or ability to joyfully feast. Those he left would still have their food, family and celebration. He was not taking any of that from them. But there were others "in greatest need" He found them he did not wait for them to seek him or ask him ...he sought them until he found them at Bethesda, the five-porch pool by the sheep market that was renowned for attracting the afflicted. everybody knew about this place. Did they see it as a gathering of the afflicted; or a place of miracles?

The Gospel of John tells us that near the pool “lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting even though only one would be healed, everyone so afflicted felt it was worth the wait just to have the chance for relief for the moving of the water.

“For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had” (John 5:3–4).  I don't know why...but I'm fascinated by this story. What is this curious miracle the people all knew about? I did a little searching on the internet to see if anyone had any information about this. Here is one commentary that I thought was interesting. And this one; but now I think that no one in LDS writing, that I could find, has elaborated on this miracle because the whole point is that Christ came to this man with the power to heal; with true Charity. If there were other sources of healing, even an angel, it didn't matter. With Christ you have the full and constant well of living water.

The Savior’s visit is depicted in a beautiful painting by Carl Bloch titled Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda. Bloch captures Jesus gently lifting a temporary canopy, revealing an “impotent man” (John 5:7) who is lying near the pool, waiting. Here the word impotent refers to someone who is powerless and emphasizes the mercy and grace of the Savior, who came quietly to minister to those who could not help themselves. We are all this "impotent" man; powerless to heal ourselves unto eternal life.

 In the painting, the afflicted man huddles on the floor in the shadows, exhausted and demoralized after suffering his infirmity for 38 years. Sometimes, we too feel exhausted in our mortal condition, so prone to wander and sin...

As the Savior raises the edge of the cloth with one hand, He beckons with the other and asks a penetrating question: “Wilt thou be made whole?” This question speaks to our agency. You have to first want to leave your condition; a harder question than you may realize...

The man replies, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me” (John 5:6–7). I assume the Savior took the answer as a "yes".

To the man’s seemingly impossible challenge, Jesus provides a profound and unexpected answer: This is the love and power of Christ. Nothing is impossible. His words are profound. Expect that He will ask of you or show you the unexpected.

“Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. Notice the Savior gives him specific instructions that require the man to act in direct opposition to the condition he just stated that he was in.

“And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked” (John 5:8–9). Some miracles are fast!

In another tender scene, Luke tells us that the Savior, while traveling to Jerusalem, met 10 lepers. Because of their infirmity, they “stood afar off” (Luke 17:12). They were outcasts—unclean and unwanted.

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,” they cried (Luke 17:13)—in other words, importuning, “Isn’t there something You can do for us?”

The Great Physician, full of compassion, still knew that faith must precede the miracle From this example we learn that faith is not the asking part and therefore told them, “Go shew yourselves unto the priests” (Luke 17:14). Faith is the doing part.

As they went in faith, the miracle occurred. Sometimes you just have to begin to act for the miracle to begin. Can you imagine the overwhelming joy with each step as they witnessed in real time their bodies being cleansed, healed, and restored right before their eyes?

“One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

“And fell down on his face at [the Master’s] feet, giving him thanks. …gratitude is recognizing God's hand in our lives. When He says, "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things..." is He really making a statement about the sin of not even recognizing his hand? Recognizing may not mean being aware but forgetting to say thank you. It might be that we don't either see our blessings as coming from him, or we don't see them at all". Elder Bednar's talk on tithing speaks about this very thing.
 

“And [Jesus] said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” (Luke 17:15–16, 19). God has the power, but our faith activates it.

In my former practice as a physician and surgeon, I focused on mending and correcting the physical. Jesus Christ heals body, mind, and spirit, and His healing begins with faith.  All healing begins with faith!

Do you remember when your faith and joy were full to the brim? Remember the moment you found your testimony or when God confirmed to you that you were His son or daughter and that He loved you very much—and you felt whole? If that time seems lost, it can be found again. As you go out in faith to seek those who need to be rescued, remember that they can remember the testimony and joy they once had. Help them to remember.

The Savior counsels us on how to be made whole—to be complete or become healed:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Step One: Respond to His invitation. Turn your face towards Him and start to move in His direction.

“Take my yoke upon you,Step Two: Make covenants with Him and accept His terms and learn of me; Step Three: As you keep those covenants you will learn how to become like Him and He will change you for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. I like to hear "rest" as "peace". There is so much of anxiousness in our world today. Much of that comes from pride, expectations, judgments, and selfishness. Christ shows you that letting go of all that will give your soul much needed "rest".

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). For He is the only way to lasting happiness. The consequences of obedience are much easier than the consequences of sin and carries a much lighter burden. Though you may still be hated and persecuted, you can still "rest" in His peace.

“Come, follow me” (Luke 18:22) invites us to leave behind the old life and worldly desires put off the natural man and become a new creature for whom “old things are passed away [and] all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17), even with a new, faithful heart. One whose thoughts and feelings and actions are aligned with Heavenly Father and the Savior And we are made whole again.

“Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (D&C 88:63). In each of these things we are the ones to initiate the action.

As we draw near to Him, Since He is always there for us, we are the ones that move away or toward Him. we realize that mortality is meant to be difficult and that “opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11) is not a flaw in the plan of salvation. Somehow we have to hold this statement, that life is hard, next to the earlier statement that "my yoke is easy" and find a way for them both to be true.  Opposition, rather, is the indispensable element of mortality and strengthens our will and refines our choices. The vicissitudes "changing circumstances" of life help us fashion an eternal relationship with God—and engrave His image upon our countenance as we yield our hearts to Him (see Alma 5:19). For we are always enticed by Him and the adversary. The only question that remains is who we will yield our hearts to.The more often we yield to God, the stronger we become and the better we get at discerning the real choices.

“This do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19) is what our Savior asked when He instituted what we call the sacrament. This ordinance with bread and water renews sacred covenants we have made with God and invites the power of the Atonement into our lives. We are healed by abandoning the habits and lifestyles that harden hearts and stiffen necks. When we lay down “the weapons of [our] rebellion” (Alma 23:7), we become “agents unto [ourselves]” (D&C 58:28), no longer blinded by the sophistry of Satan or deafened by the discordant noise of the secular world.

As we repent and become converted to the Lord, we become whole, and our guilt is swept away. We may wonder, as did Enos, “How is it done?” The Lord answers: “Because of thy faith in Christ. … Wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole” (Enos 1:7, 8). Is this your weekly experience with the Sacrament? Are you daily abandoning the habits and lifestyles that harden your heart?

Corrie ten Boom, a devout Dutch Christian woman, found such healing despite having been interned in concentration camps during World War II. She suffered greatly, but unlike her beloved sister Betsie, who perished in one of the camps, Corrie survived.

After the war she often spoke publicly of her experiences and of healing and forgiveness. On one occasion a former Nazi guard who had been part of Corrie’s own grievous confinement in Ravensbrück, Germany, approached her, rejoicing at her message of Christ’s forgiveness and love.

“‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,’ he said. ‘To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!’

“His hand was thrust out to shake mine,” Corrie recalled. “And I, who had preached so often … the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

“Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. … Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

“I tried to smile, [and] I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

“As I took his hand Notice in this story, as with the first story of the leper, she had to initiate the movement. Waiting to feel like it would not bring the desired miracle. the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. Christ can literally change your heart in an instant. Ask. Act. Receive.

“And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”¹

Every time we say, "I can't", He responds, "but I can".

Corrie ten Boom was made whole.

President Thomas S. Monson has said, “There is one life that sustains those who are troubled or beset with sorrow and grief—even the Lord Jesus Christ.”²

If you feel unclean, unloved, unhappy, unworthy, or unwhole, remember “all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”³ Have faith and patience in the Savior’s timing and purposes for you. “Be not afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36). Type this one up and put it on your mirror; memorize it.

Be assured the Savior still seeks to mend our souls and heal our hearts. He waits at the door and knocks. Let us answer by beginning again to pray, repent, forgive, and forget. Let us love God and serve our neighbor and stand in holy places with a life made clean. The impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, the leper along the journey to Jerusalem, and Corrie ten Boom were made whole. “Wilt thou be made whole?” Rise and walk. His “grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9), and you will not walk alone.

I have come to know that God lives. I know that we are all His children and that He loves us for who we are and for who we can become. I know that He sent His Son to the world to be the atoning sacrifice for all mankind and that those who embrace His gospel and follow Him will be made whole and complete—“in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68), by His tender mercies. Trust Him. Always.This is my witness to you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

1. Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place (1971), 215.
2. Thomas S. Monson, “Meeting Life’s Challenges,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 71.
3. Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service (2004), 52.

IMPERATIVES

• Repent
• Become converted to the Lord
• If you have lost your faith; find it again
• How to be made whole—to be complete or become healed: 
• Come unto Christ
• Follow Christ 
• Take his yoke upon you,
• learn of Him; 
• be meek and lowly in heart 
• Leave behind your old life and worldly desires
• Become a new creature with a new, faithful heart. 
• Draw near unto Christ 
• Seek Him diligently 
• Ask to receive; 
• Knock, and it shall be opened unto you
•  Let opposition:
• strengthen your will
• refine your choices
• help you fashion an eternal relationship with God
• engrave His image upon your countenance
• help you yield your heart to God
• Renew sacred covenants you made with God as you partake of the sacrament in remembrance of the Savior.
• Invite the power of the Atonement into your life
• Abandon habits and lifestyles that harden your heart and stiffen your neck.
• Lay down your "weapons of rebellion" 
• Become an agent unto yourself by refusing to be blinded by the sophistry of Satan or deafened by the discordant noise of the secular world.
• Have faith and patience in the Savior’s timing and purposes for you. 
• “Be not afraid, only believe"
• Pray,
• Repent, 
• Forgive, and forget. 
• Love God and serve your neighbor  
• Stand in holy places with a life made clean  

DOCTRINAL INSIGHT

• As we repent and become converted to the Lord, we become whole, and our guilt is swept away
• Faith in Christ makes us whole
• Faith must precede the miracle
• Jesus Christ heals body, mind, and spirit, and His healing begins with faith
• Mortality is meant to be difficult; “opposition in all things” is not a flaw in the plan of salvation. 
• Opposition is the indispensable element of mortality and strengthens your will and refines your choices
• The vicissitudes of life help you fashion an eternal relationship with God—and engrave His image upon your countenance as you yield your heart to Him
• The world's healing does not hinge on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.
• There is one life that sustains those who are troubled or beset with sorrow and grief—even the Lord Jesus Christ.
• We are all God's children   
• He loves us for who we are and for who we can become.
• Those who embrace His gospel and follow Him will be made whole and complete—“in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will”, by His tender mercies. 

PROMISES

• As you repent and become converted to the Lord and you will become whole and your guilt will be swept away.
• “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
•  “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
• “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”  
• All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Even if you feel unclean, unloved, unhappy, unworthy, or unwhole.
• Be assured the Savior still seeks to mend your soul and heal your heart. He waits at the door and knocks.
• “Wilt thou be made whole?” Rise and walk. His “grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9), and you will not walk alone.

WARNINGS 

• There are habits and lifestyles that harden your heart and stiffen your neck.
• The sophistry of Satan can blind your eyes
• The discordant noise of the secular world can deafen your ears.
• Weapons of rebellion can keep you in patterns of being acted upon instead of acting.